Author's Note: Okay so here's chapter two as promised. I'm hoping this one will be more fun to read than the first but, you know, intros had to be made. Enjoy!

Recap:

The pupils are dilated, and the hatred that fills her expression is frightening enough that Fever takes a step back.

This was not her best friend.

Chapter 2:

"I told you to go away." Truth growls, and then she is launching herself at the blonde, a terrible screech leaving her mouth. She raises her arms and brings them down, water slicing through the air. Fever dodges the blow that would have torn skin and crouches low, her dark brown eyes filling with fear for her friend.

"What the hell happened to you?" She mutters, but Truth doesn't hear her. She just continues to attack her with the fury of a true enemy, her water finally breaking through her defense and slicing Fever's arm. She lets out a pained shout and in her moment of weakness she is slammed to the ground by the furious angel.

xoXox

Val gasps and stands up straight as he feels pain radiate through him. North jumps next to him and looks him over with a confused expression.

"What is it?"

"She's in trouble." In a second he is following her panic and is greeted by the sight of Fever unconscious on the ground, Truth breathing heavily over her and looking ready to outright kill her. He immediately notches an arrow onto his bow and lets it fly, but Truth hears him and dodges quickly with a hiss. "Get away from her!" He sees her eyes and winces at the dark energy swirling in them. He lets loose another arrow but she dodges it as well, growling in a low voice.

"You will never stop it." Before he can ask her what she means, and who's behind her possession, her wings raise and she flies out of the dilapidated ceiling without a glance back. Val takes a deep breath and when he is certain that she is gone, he turns toward Fever and gently rests a hand over her chest, relief pouring through him as her pulse pounds against his fingers. They had learned very early on in their partnership that they could communicate with each other's souls, but what would happen to one if the other died was still unknown. He sighs and strokes her cheek lightly, and she groans as she begins to wake up.

"Ah, Fever." He sighs, and lifts her into his arms.

"You know I hate it when you do that." She grumbles, but her eyelids lower in response to the pain in her body, and when they finally open again she is back at the Pole and laid down on the floor with way too many loud voices around her.

"-happened?"

"Did you find who you were looking for?"

"Yes, she did. But it wasn't her." Val answers, and North frowns.

"What do you mean?"

"She's possessed." Fever manages to mumble, gaining their attention. She vaguely feels Val applying something to her arm, and winces. "Truth is an angel. She protects purity and compassion and defeats lies and deceit. I thought that she could help us. But I have a feeling that she's being used to bring what she's meant to reverse, out in all adults."

"Who is doing it?" Tooth asks softly, and Fever shakes her head with a scowl.

"I don't know." She was so angry, thinking about how someone could take the sweet, loving girl that she had become so close to, and turn her into a monster. "But I'm going to find out."

"And just how are you going to do that, sheila?" Aster speaks up in an arrogant tone. "You just tried to get answers and you almost came back without an arm." Tooth and Jack give him a warning look but he continues with a glare. "I really don't see how you're going to help us. We should have never sent out an amateur to deal with this. Obviously Manny made a mistake." Fever pushes Val away from her and stands to meet Aster's bright green eyes. She was only two inches shorter than him so it wasn't difficult, but it was hard to ignore the obvious lean muscle that was under the rabbit's fur.

"You want to start something, rabbit? Because so far all I've heard about you is that you paint eggs." She retorts, and he bristles from the insult. "Not very handy in a fight, is it?"

"Well you got your ass kicked by an angel, even armed with a sword. What does that make you?" He leans forward so their noses are almost touching, and she is slightly intimidated, but she doesn't back down.

"At least I'm trying to do something. Why don't you get off your furry ass and grow some balls!" She snarls, and feels a hand pull her back as Aster takes a threatening step toward her.

"Enough, Fever!" Val hisses into her ear and pulls her away, and he turns her around to force her to look at him. She glances off to the side, hearing North scolding Aster quietly, but Val takes her chin in his hand and she scowls at him. "You will not act this way. I put up with it, but this is serious and I won't have you starting a shit-storm in the presence of the Guardians."

"Please, let's just calm down. We must focus on the real problem." North says, and Fever yanks her head out of Val's grasp and disappears without another word. The blonde man breathes slowly through his nose and brings a hand up to massage his temple, feeling a headache begin.

"I apologize, North. She's just lost her best friend, she's a little on edge right now." The older man nods in understanding but still doesn't seem completely pacified. "We will continue to look out for Truth, and the person behind this. Call us back if you find something out." With a polite nod, he too disappears, and the Guardians stand there for a moment before Jack snorts.

"Way to go, Bunny." He says, earning an irritated ear twitch in response.

"It's not my fault that there doesn't seem to be any more useful spirits to help us. So far they don't seem to have done anything at all-"

"They have found us a target. This Truth has something to do with how the world is changing. We will learn more about her from them." North says, and then settles a stern look at everyone. "We deal with the children, they with the adults. Though we are different, they are no less important. The man in the moon chooses everyone for a specific reason. Those twins keep the world spinning, Bunny. Without them, love would eventually die out, and it very well may be happening now. They are the ones we need."

xoXox

Fever stares into the dark night sky as she walks idly across rooftops, jumping across the small spaces in between the buildings. Damn Aster. Her job was a sore spot for her. It had been ever since she was chosen, but no one had ever made her feel so useless before as he had just done. She begins to wonder why it bothered her so much, and then brushes the thought off as quickly as it comes. She had more things to worry about than Aster's approval. As she continues to walk aimlessly, she hears a set of footsteps following her. She smiles and is instantly swept up to another time, before the world was so close to ruin. She had been new at her job, still working the kinks out, if you will. She smirks at her joke and pauses, hearing Val do the same behind her.

"Why can't I do this?" Fever whispers to herself as she tries to make her fingertips warm again. She had been staring at her hands for the last ten minutes trying to figure out what she had done before. It was only her second day, and she just couldn't get the hang of it. She lets out a frustrated groan and sinks her head into her hands, wishing for something, anything to guide her. It is at that moment that she feels something that makes her gasp. It is a heartbeat, synonymous with hers. Her hands move to her chest as if expecting to feel another organ beating within her, but then she feels it outside of her body, but so close. She slowly turns around, and jumps up at the sight of a man her age standing near her with a smile.

"I finally found you." Her eyes frantically search for a way out, away from him, but he calmly raises his hands in surrender and his eyes are gentle. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I've been looking for you, Fever."

"How do you know my name?" She whispers, still wanting to run. He bows to her and she wants to laugh. It seems so out of place. He looks like a handsome nobleman, though the bow and arrows across his back were somewhat strange as he was obviously not hunting.

"The moon told me. Please, let me introduce myself. I'm Saint Valentine. But you can call me Val."

"Val…" She echoes, and her eyes snag on the bow and arrows, her brow furrowing. "Are you… Cupid?" He laughs and nods. "Why are you looking for me?"

"You were reborn just two days ago, were you not?" At her hesitant nod, his smile grows. "We are to be partners, you and I." She focuses on him again, and she can still hear his heartbeat, feel it even. It was so strange that she had to step closer to him. He waits patiently and her fingertips touch just above his heart, and then he laughs breathily. "Oh yeah, you're definitely her." She glances up and is startled at the heat in his eyes, and realizes that she had been able to send desire through her fingers as she had been trying to do for the last ten minutes. Her cheeks flush and she pulls her hand away. "It's alright. I'll teach you how to control it. We make each other stronger." She smiles slightly, already feeling more alive just from being in his presence. "I've needed some help for a while now. I just had to wait for you."

Fever smiles at the memory, feeling Val's heartbeat just as strongly now as she did back then. Oh, how naïve she had been. She was truly thankful to him for showing her the path to which the moon had swayed her. She sighs and turns around to look at him seriously.

"Do you really think we're doing the right thing, getting involved?" She asks, and he shrugs.

"We don't really have a choice now." He says, and she frowns as she is reminded that Truth was in just as much trouble as the human race, even if she was being used as their downfall. "It is interesting, though." He doesn't continue, and she raises an eyebrow in question. "How you and Bunny seem to get along."

"We don't." Fever says, giving him a look that claimed he was an idiot for thinking such a thing.

"Exactly. But deep inside you two are so similar."

"What?" She nearly snaps at him. "I am not like him!"

"Of course you are." Val laughs. "First of all, neither of you like to be mocked about your job or made to feel unimportant. He has to compete with Christmas, and we have to compete with the Guardians as a whole. Especially you, seeing as you're only a little over a century old." She rolls her eyes, feeling as if he were gripping at straws. And really, why was he even trying? So long as they did what they were called in to do, what did it matter if she got along with them? "And then there's the animal magnetism that you both have." She whips around to stare at him, wondering if he had lost his mind.

"Are you crazy?"

"Not in the least. You're the Spirit of Lust; practically sex on legs." He waves a hand toward her sensual outfit that barely conceals her generous curves, and she self-consciously folds her arms over her chest. She had never liked it when he pointed it out. He was like her brother and it made her uncomfortable.

"So?"

"Think about it. He's a rabbit, a species that is just naturally horny-"

"Val!"

"-and he practically gives birth to Spring. He's a symbol of virility. And then there's you, just as hot tempered and probably the only person on the planet who has the passion and stamina to keep up with him." Her jaw drops and she is silent for a moment until she recovers from his words.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Oh please, Miss I-always-have-my-mind-in-the-gutter. I can tell just by how easily you two fight that you would be wild in the bedroom. Even I would pay to see that."

"You're disgusting." She deadpans and quickens her pace to put some distance between them, trying to ignore her burning cheeks. He just laughs and sticks close by as they continue their rounds.

xoXox

Author's Note: Good? Getting better? I hope so. Review please! And don't worry about Bunny having a rotten personality. It's happening for a reason that will come to light soon.